Last year, Coloradans donated a record $26.2 million to hundreds of nonprofits statewide. The sixth annual Colorado Gives Day is well underway, and Boulder County nonprofits continue to raise the ante to promote awareness of their work and to encourage donors to “give where you live” – on or before Dec. 8. We asked some of our grantees to share with us their approach to inspire year-end giving:
Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
Danni Simon, Development & Membership Associate
“For the first time this year, we’re hosting a special event at Illegal Pete’s on The Hill [1124 13th Street]. From 5-11 p.m. on Colorado Gives Day, 50 percent of what they sell will go to BMoCA if you say you’re there to support to us. Donations made through Colorado Gives Day will be increased by the Community First Foundation and FirstBank Incentive Fund.
“At the same time, we’re planning some fun and interesting programming, trivia and other events – something for everyone – to promote awareness of BMoCA and Colorado Gives Day, including the Incentive Fund. We’re also sending out newsletters leading up to Colorado Gives Day, focusing on different aspects of what we do, from education and youth programming to public programs and our exhibitions.”
Rocky Mountain Institute
Matthew Ritter, Development Coordinator
“We have a weekly blog, Spark, that we’re currently using to highlight various aspects of our year-end giving opportunities, including Colorado Gives Day. We’re also communicating internally to engage and encourage our staff to spread awareness among their own networks.
“This year, we’re especially pushing the Colorado Gives Day Incentive Fund…and we’re using social media a lot more to promote awareness about how we help businesses, communities and institutions shift to efficiency and renewables for a cleaner and more secure energy future.”
“I Have a Dream” Foundation of Boulder County
Kasia Szewczyk, Vice President of Development
Inspired by its success in promoting a match for last year’s Giving Tuesday, the “I Have a Dream” Foundation of Boulder County has this year also secured an anonymous donor to provide a match for Colorado Gives Day contributions.
“Our main emphasis is promoting that match, and letting people know that we have three easy ways to contribute and double their gift: a one-time donation, sponsoring a Dreamer, or making a gift toward a scholarship,” says Szewczyk. “The scholarship gift is a matching opportunity made possible by a grant from the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative. The idea is to motivate our Dreamers to graduate from high school, go to college and break the cycle of poverty.
“In addition to social media, we’re doing an email campaign which tends to be most effective for us. With social media alone, there are so many variables – like whether our posts are actually seen in our followers’ newsfeeds.”
The Family Learning Center
Brenda Lyle, Founder and Executive Director
“As an early adopter of Colorado Gives Day, we’re working with the Sterling-Rice Group to create a mailing that complements our efforts on social media. We also tech savvy alumni who are sending out texts about Colorado Gives Day.
“This year, we’re focusing on our capital campaign for our health and wellness prevention center. We’re hoping to start construction this winter or early spring.
“We’re also looking at a partnership with an international program that’s focused on respecting our differences – so in addition to the capital campaign, this year’s Colorado Gives Day donations will also support our work to promote peace and understanding for children.”
Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition
Richard Garcia, Executive Director
“Parent involvement is the key that opens the door for children’s success in school. For Colorado Gives Day, our push on social media is to inform as many people as we can about the work we’re doing to provide information and skills-training to parents, helping them to be better engaged with their children.
“We’ve been involved with Colorado Gives Day for many years, and it’s one way for us to share our efforts emphasizing early learning as an opportunity to help close the achievement gap. In Longmont and Lafayette, and expanding into Jefferson County, we provide high-intensity training for childcare providers to ensure that children start kindergarten ready to learn.
“We’re also in Aurora, Greeley and Fort Lupton…as our program expands in Boulder County and beyond, we need more support. We know the program works to develop children’s social and emotional development, as well as their cognitive development.”
The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County
Of course, we’re also engaged with Colorado Gives Day by sharing via our blog, social media and e-newsletters how every donation makes a difference in our efforts to be a catalyst for positive change. Support The Community Foundation and help us fund grants, disseminate data, train leaders, facilitate a critical mass of well-informed and skilled parents creating opportunity for all, and more.
